


Reasons to be jealous

by elareine



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: 5+1 Things, Brotherly Bonding, Crack Treated Seriously, Fluff, Future Fic, Jealousy, M/M, Misunderstandings, Pining, Undercover as a Couple
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-18
Updated: 2019-05-18
Packaged: 2020-03-07 11:35:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18872404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elareine/pseuds/elareine
Summary: That was the second time Dick had called Jason ‘Jay’. Tim had thought he was the only one of their family who called Jason that. The only one who regularly saw Jason, too. Apparently not.He ignored the twinge in his gut and asked, “So you’re getting along better now?”The smile on Dick’s face was small but genuine. “Yeah.”





	Reasons to be jealous

**Author's Note:**

> Or: The Fic That Thaught Me How Inconvenient The Name 'Dick' Really Is. 
> 
> Many thanks to prettylittlepliers for the beta. 
> 
> For Batfam Bingo 2019 square: 5+1.

_One_

“Well, that’s one arsonist behind bars.” Dick closed his laptop with a sigh of deep satisfaction. “Good job, Timmy.” 

“Warm in here today,” he remarked absently, still focused on his own screen but knowing that Dick liked a bit of chatter once the tension of a case lessened. 

“Oh, yeah, Jay and I were talking about it recently and it just reminded me of how much I like coming home to a warm room.” 

Tim actually turned his attention to Dick. Dick and Jason… they talked, sure. The years had even smoothed most of the stiltedness out of it. He would go so far as to call them family. 

But they weren’t _friends_. Tim couldn’t imagine them talking about room temperatures. 

“You were?” 

Dick laughed. “Weird topic of conversation, right? But you know how boring stake-outs go.” 

Tim nodded in a heartfelt manner. 

“It’s just a childhood thing. Circus trailers aren’t exactly known for great insulation. And Jay….”, Dick hesitated. Close to two decades later and still none of them liked to think about that child trying to survive on Gotham’s streets. “Well, he knows cold, too. I thought it would be nice to have it warm if he stops by, is all.” 

That was the second time Dick had called Jason ‘Jay’. Tim had thought he was the only one of their family who called Jason that. The only one who regularly saw Jason, too. Apparently not. 

He ignored the twinge in his gut and asked, “So you’re getting along better now?” 

The smile on Dick’s face was small but genuine. “Yeah.” 

 

“Hey, did you set something on fire? Usually I’m close to freezing in here. See, this is why I bring the food,” Jason joked as he dropped the containers with said food on the kitchen counter. 

Tim’s neck felt hot as he moved to take out some plates. “I thought it might be… nice. To be warm.” 

It wasn’t a good excuse, he knew that. 

Jason’s gaze sharpened. “Nice.” 

Tim shrugged as casually as possible. 

He thought Jason might ask again - give that man a hint something was up and he would follow it to its bitter end - but the other man finally relaxed into a smile. “Well, it is. Nice.” 

When they moved to the couch for their weekly session of greasy food and terrible TV, Jason took his jacket off. Again Tim felt that unease in his gut. He had assumed that Jason kept the jacket on as form of a safety blanket, to hide his guns or even just out of a sense of style. But no, he’d just been freezing because Tim never really noticed the temperature of a room he was in and tended to keep it on the chilly side. 

Some detective he was. He’d been doing this - this _thing_ with Jason for years now, being partners, brothers, friends even, but he hadn’t seen something so simple about him. But Dick had.

A knee nudged against his. When he looked up Jason’s eyes were concerned. 

“You alright, babybird?” 

The nickname, as always, made Tim want to smile, but he just said: “Tired, sorry.” 

 

 _Two_

It was one thing to know that Dick and Jason were getting along better now; another entirely to watch it. 

Patrol with just the four of them was always tense. It didn’t happen often. Babs had made plenty of comments about all-men groups being ‘way too testosterone guided’ and Tim absolutely conceded her point. But she was busy and Steph and Cass were away, as was Bruce. The announcement of an upcoming Arkham breakout hadn’t left them with much choice but for the four of them to work together.

Still, Tim had expected it to be tense because Dick and Jason were sniping at each other and Damian at everyone, not because Jason and Dick were goofing around and it was _weird_. 

Dick was laughing and slinging an arm around Jason’s shoulder innocently. Tim knew that move intimately - any moment now Dick’s hand would move under Jason’s right arm and flip him over bodily. He’d done it to Tim and Damian about a thousand times. 

Dick’s hand moved and pulled. 

Nothing happened.

Jason was grinning under his helmet, Tim was sure. “Bit heavier than you remembered, Nightwing?” 

Dick pouted. 

Before he could reply, however, he was interrupted by a sharp voice. “Are you done being a distraction?” 

Damian was being even more pissy than usual. He’d donned his Batman cowl in Bruce’s absence, but it couldn’t hide the perpetual scowl on his face this night. Tim didn’t need to guess what had caused it. The brat (which was what Damian always would be to him, a head taller than him or not) had always been possessive over Dick, and didn’t Tim know it. 

Still, for once, Tim actually agreed with him. They were very distracting. 

Luckily, the first inmate chose that moment to break through security forces, and soon they were all too busy for any more flirting. 

 

“Why are you here and not in the shower?” Dick waved a hand in the direction Jason had disappeared to. 

“I need to write a mission report,” Tim protested. 

“We can do that, right, little D?” Dick smiled at Damian, who grumbled but acquiesced. “Go ahead and have an early night, dude. You look beat.”

“Uh. Thanks.” 

Tim made his way to the unofficial changing room they sometimes used after missions, where Jason was just coming out of the shower, a towel around his hips.

He smiled when he saw Tim. “You’re done?”

“Looks like it.”

“Wanna go for some pancakes?” 

“Sure.” 

With a quiet sigh of relief, Tim peeled out of the tight suit, grimacing mentally at the sweat that made his skin stick to the material. Jason moved next to him to get dressed. 

Tim didn’t realise how quiet he’d been until Jason’s hand reached out to poke his newly uncovered cheek. “Something on your mind, babybird?” 

“It’s weird,” he admitted, “seeing Dick and you get along.”

Jason laughed. “I bet. Don’t worry, it probably won’t last.” 

“What brought the truce on, anyway?” 

“Nothing special. Guess we just decided to, to quote a certain Tim Drake, ‘grow up and talk’. Though alcohol was involved. Obviously.” 

Tim’s eyes narrowed. Jason wasn’t looking at him and his tone of voice was relaxed, light, even.

He was lying. 

 

_Three_

“If he’s coming to Wayne functions now, we might as well make Jason officially a part of the family again.” 

“Bruce doesn’t know how to ask and he thinks Jason will say no.” 

“He might not.” But Tim was aware that Dick’s attention wasn’t really on their quiet conversation. 

Dick was loosening his tie. Tim, curse his brain, couldn’t help but notice the way his throat was flushed, how he swallowed like his mouth was dry. 

See, this was the kind of situation where Tim mentally cursed every bit of detective training he’d ever had. He’d really rather _not_ know that his brother was becoming aroused in the middle of a very public ballroom, thank you very much. 

Tim followed Dick’s gaze to where Jason and Damian were talking to a group of socialites, the two of them towering over everyone else. Without any conscious input from his brain, his own eyes strayed to where the suit jacket stretched just so over Jason’s broad shoulders, to where the coat flared, perfectly accentuating his waist, down to his thighs just barely contained by the slim suit pants… 

Dick’s voice recalled him to the present. “Well, you would know better than anyone else.” 

_Apparently not,_ Tim thought. _Apparently I don’t know anything about him. If he didn’t even tell me about you…_

It was hard to speak around the bitterness in throat. “I know that if he keeps throwing Damian to the wolves like that, he won’t live long enough to answer Bruce.” 

Dick laughed. “Aww, you know Damian only means his death threats 30% of the time these days. Still, I’ll go rescue him. Coming?” 

Tim waved him off, knowing all three of the official Wayne brothers together would draw a crowd. Worse, it would draw Cass. As much as he loved his sister, he didn’t want her to see the ugly feeling clawing through him. 

For a minute, he just watched Dick move through the crowd, a kind word here, a flirtatious smile there, always working his audience. The golden boy. Tim had thought he was over that old jealousy - over fighting for the cowl, for Bruce’s love, for a place in their family, always compared to the first Robin - but now it looked like Jason would be just one more thing he’d lose to Dick and he _couldn’t stand it_. 

There was a familiar presence sidling up to him. For such a big man, Jason could be quite stealthy. 

Tim took a deep breath, composing himself. He couldn’t afford to act weird around Jason. Again. 

“Hey,” he smiled at him, “Alfred got you into a suit?” 

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to wearing something this expensive.” Jason rolled his shoulders back, stretching the shirt even further. Tim had to look away. “You make it look so natural.” 

“I’m always terrified of spilling something.” Tim suppressed a shudder, remembering his mother’s less than understanding attitude when he’d ruined one of his outfits as a child. Alfred, of course, would never do more than cluck disapprovingly, but… 

“Well, then you’d better put that glass away and dance with me.” There was a roguish grin on Jason’s face as he offered Tim a hand. 

Tim, however, didn’t even really have time to consider that offer before Jason just went and took his hand anyway, his other setting down Tim’s glass on a nearby surface before pulling the younger man to the dance floor. 

“Jason,” Tim protested, laughter threatening to break through as Jason pulled him into his arms and began leading him into a quickstep.

“C’mon, the longer we dance, the longer we don’t need to talk to anyone else.” Jason grinned down at him. “Mrs. Quickshaw was already making her way over.” 

Now Tim _did_ giggle. “In that case, feel free to whisk me away anytime.” 

He thought he saw Dick watching them from the corner of his eyes, but Jason chose that moment to twirl him around and he forgot all about it, breathless with laughter. 

 

_Four_

“Grayson and Todd.” 

Tim looked up from his screen at the cave to the masked crusader sitting next to him. “What about them?” Last time he’d checked, the two were out and about on their usual routes. Jason had even texted him about a particularly funny incident involving two sex workers and a fourteen-year-old wannabe client four minutes ago. Surely even _he_ hadn’t managed to get into trouble in the meantime? 

What was he thinking, this was Gotham. 

Damian made an impatient gesture. His expression implied that Tim should know exactly what he was talking about, but he deigned to say: “They are closer.” 

Oh. 

“Yes.” Tim did his best to sound disinterested. There was no way he would bare this wound to Damian. 

Damian was frowning up a storm now. “I’ve seen Grayson experience romantic and sexual attraction to someone he believes is out of his reach before. He’s exhibiting all the signs now.” 

Tim considered that. In a way, Damian certainly knew Dick better than Tim. (That still smarted a bit, by the way.) The brat had certainly become better about people’s emotions through the years. If Damian said that Dick was in love with Jason, Tim believed him. 

For a second, he considered the possibility that it was one-sided with something like joy. Then he squashed it ruthlessly.

It was Dick. How could Jason resist him? Why would he want to? Everyone loved Dick. It didn’t matter that Tim had invested years of his life into supporting Jason through the most difficult times of their lives, into building a relationship that was founded on trust instead of violence. He had never kidded himself that it made Jason obligated or even likely to love him. 

It didn’t matter, because who wouldn’t want Dick? 

Dick might be pining _now_ , but soon, he would get what he wanted. He always did, in these things. 

Tim just hoped for Jason’s sake that Dick wouldn’t get tired of him once he had him. 

Shoving the thought away, he said tiredly, “Maybe it is for now.” 

There was a loud crack as Damian set down his cup with enough force to split porcelain. “You’re not helpful, Drake,” he spat, jumping up and exiting the cave in his usual dramatic fashion. 

Tim watched him leave and wondered why this felt like giving up.

 

 _Five_

“Oh, I see you have booked our honeymoon suite. May I offer my felicitations?” 

Jason smiled and pulled his partner closer into him. “Thank you.” 

“Our suite offers everything you need to make it the experience of a lifetime. The rooms include a kitchenette, a secluded balcony with a sea view as well as a whirlpool. I’ll have an attendant bring you a bottle of champagne,” the clerk smiled, “on the house.” 

Dick beamed. “Oh, thank you, that’s very kind of you!” He turned to kiss Jason on the cheek. “See, babe, I told you this hotel is the best.”

“You’re very welcome, Mr. Grayson. Now, our restaurant serves dinner between six and ten, though I’m happy to give you recommendations if you choose to dine elsewhere. Room service is available by calling…” 

“Will she never stop talking,” a voice in Tim’s feed cut her off. 

Tim frowned. “You’re supposed to be working, Robin.” 

He could practically hear Damian’s eyeroll. “Not much to do as a valet, you imbecile. I’m assigned to take their luggage up,” that was going according to plan, then, Tim thought, how nice to know, thank you, Damian, “but they are too busy flirting to actually do something.” 

“That _is_ what they’re supposed to be doing,” Tim reminded him. 

“Tch.” Damian’s feed cut off. 

Jason and Dick were finally wrapping things up at the reception desk. Tim watched through the security cameras as they turned towards the elevators, their eyes seemingly never leaving each other. 

These days, Jason was the logical choice as a partner on these missions if they wanted to keep it in the family. Mostly because people didn’t _know_ he was family, so they could use their actual names to get into luxury hotels and the like. O was busy and Bruce on another planet, so it made sense that Tim was running the backup side of things. Sure, Dick had been a bit quick to volunteer to be Jason’s partner on this one, leaving Damian to infiltrate the labor side of things, but Damian was still a bit stiff in undercover situations like this one. The entire set-up was entirely logical. 

Still, as Jason’s hand dropped down to squeeze a generous handful of Dick’s ass, Tim started to see Damian’s point. 

The honeymooners made their way up to their room. Separating as soon as the door closed behind Damian, they silently began to case the room. 

Tim let them work for it for a minute, then spoke into the mic. “There are no outgoing signals apart from my camera from your room.”

Jason looked up into said camera and smiled. “Thanks. How are things on your end?” 

“Uneventful.” 

Dick asked, “Where’s Damian?” 

“Making his way through the rooms. He’ll hand your note over to the mark in about five minutes.” 

“Better get undressed then,” Dick said, winking at Jason. “Gotta give her a show, right?” 

“You actually want her and Damian to walk in on us?” Jason sighed dramatically. “Tim, you’ll rescue me if Damian tries to kill me, right?” 

“I don’t know,” Tim replied drily around the bile in his throat, “if you make me watch you two have sex, I might help him hide the bodies.” 

“Ouch.” Jason pressed a hand to his heart. “I’m wounded.”

Dick rolled his eyes and pulled his shirt over his eyes. “Just get undressed.”

“Since you’re asking so nicely, darling.” 

“Just for you, honey.” 

Tim decided to turn his attention to Damian’s feed, instead. 

 

_And one_

To say the aftermath of the mission was tense was to make an understatement. They had drawn out the mob contact they’d needed and locked away an entire branch of a drug-smuggling cartel, but Jason and Dick had barely made it back to the cave before Damian had appeared to whisk a confused Dick away, throwing acidic looks at Jason all the way. 

Jason, weirdly, didn’t seem to take that to heart at all. Instead, he was grinning at Tim. “Got the brat all upset, huh?” 

Tim didn’t know what to say. That Damian had good reason to be upset? That both of them couldn’t stand this new relationship that had been on display so obviously during this mission? ‘He’ll come around’, knowing fully well it would be a lie? 

Abruptly, Tim stood up from his chair. Then he didn’t know what to do next. His instincts were screaming at him to get of here, to get away from Jason until he had himself under control again, but he couldn’t just storm past him, could he? Then Jason would definitely know something was wrong. 

And this was what he had wanted all these years, right? For Jason to be a part of their family again. To be happy. 

(For Jason to happy _with Tim_.

But he should’ve known better. Who could compete with Dick Grayson, after all?)

“I’m happy for you and Dick.” Tim could say it, but he couldn’t make himself look at Jason as he did. 

“Tim.” Jason’s voice was soft. 

 

Tim’s eyes stayed stubbornly on the ground even as he heard Jason move closer to him.

Then there was a large hand cupping his left jawbone, gently tilting his head up. 

“Oh, babybird, I’m-“ there was just the slightest brush of Jason’s lips against his own. Then Jason’s mouth moved up, pressing gentle kisses to his cheekbones, the arch of his brow, his forehead. 

Tim had to close his eyes against the sudden burn in them, and Jason kissed his eyelid, too. 

“I’m sorry,” Jason told him earnestly. “I didn’t realise the acting would affect you. I didn’t think you-“ 

“Well, I do. Love you, I mean.” Tim stopped himself. “Wait, that is what we’re talking about, right?” 

“I was hoping.” Jason kissed him again. This time, it lasted a lot longer, just their lips gently moving against each other, Jason’s hands on his neck, Tim’s hands on Jason’s shoulders. 

When he finally moved just fractions of a centimetre away, Jason said, “I do, too.” 

Tim wanted to believe, to just let himself give in to Jason, drown in his affection, but he had to open his eyes, had to ask. “But… you and Dick…”

 

To his surprise, Jason chuckled. “When would that even happen? I’m pretty sure I spend every waking hour of the day either with you or texting you or talking to you on the coms, Tim. I was probably texting you _during_ the stake-out when Dick and I were talking about the ideal room temperature that you were so weird about.” He paused. “We were talking about the ideal room temperature, babybird. How does that scream romantic relationship to you?” 

Tim was full-on blushing now, he was sure. “You’re very comfortable with each other. And you _did_ do way more touching than necessary on the mission.” 

“Okay, number one - we’ve been in this business long enough to know to never go undercover as a couple with someone you actually have feelings for. They _will_ be exposed and it _will_ be a mess and someone will probably be watching. Number two - I just enjoyed annoying the shit out of Damian.” 

Tim actually pulled back a bit to look at Jason. “Wait, that was intentional?” 

“On my side at least.”

Some of the interactions Tim had had with Damian fit that, he just hadn’t thought it was reciprocated - oh. Dick’s flush at the ball. _Oh_. “So Dick is-“ 

“I knew Dick was fucked the moment Damian turned out to be that tall.”

Tim groaned in exasperation. “How did I miss that?” 

“To be fair, I didn’t really _know_ before I mentioned to Dick that I’m, you know, with you and he proceeded to have a slow meltdown about Damian in front of me. There was alcohol and crying involved. Wasn’t pretty, believe me.” 

“ _That’s_ what broke the ice?” 

“Yeah. Pretty difficult to get annoyed at someone after you’ve seen them sobbing with guilt about being attracted to the demon brat.” 

With an exhale, all the tension Tim had been carrying for weeks now left his body and he slumped forward into Jason’s embrace, hiding his face in his neck. 

“Can we please stop talking about our brothers now?” Jason asked plaintively even as his hands started rubbing soothing circles on Tim’s back. “Because I’m kind of stuck on the part where you said you loved me and let me kiss you, here.” 

The smile that rose on Tim’s face was slow to unfold but so very, very happy. “You’re right. You should kiss me again.” 

Jason did. 

Tim had no occasion to think about Dick Grayson again that evening. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so, so much for your kind comments! As many of you requested it, there is now a companion fic about Dami/Dick available for your pleasure.


End file.
